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Although, the last time we spoke, everything was fine.  But I’m guessing that’s no longer the case. 

As Brooklyn starts applying a second coat of eye popping blue polish to her nails, I watch her blink a few times as if she’s concentrating.  A frown creases my brow.  It almost looks as if she’s going to burst into tears but Brooklyn never cries. She’s usually over-the-top-happy.

Unless she’s hung over.

Then not so much.

Getting up, I gingerly sit down on the bed next to her before laying a tentative hand on her shoulder.  “Tell me what’s wrong, Brook.  You look upset.” 

Tightening the cap on her polish, she sets the bottle on the table before turning to face me.  When her eyes finally catch mine, I see an ocean of sadness swimming around within them.  “You know, when you called to tell me that you were leaving Dartmouth and applying at Western, I knew something must have happened… I mean, who leaves Dartmouth midway through the year?”  She allows that question to hang in the air for a long moment.  Something painful twists in my gut before I quickly drop my eyes to my fingers which are twisting the hem of my sweater.  When I say nothing in response, she continues.  “But at the same time, I was excited that you were going to be here and we could get to know each other all over again.  Be friends the way we used to be before hockey took over your life.”

Shaking my head, I try protesting, but it’s weak.  “I never pushed our friendship aside for hockey.”  It had never been a conscious decision on my part… but the older I got, the more time hockey and training took over, and the less time I had for friends… or anything else.

She levels a hard look at me before sighing.  “But that’s exactly the way it felt.  You were always busy with your teams.  And then there was school and your family.  Over the years I guess we just… drifted apart.  I’m not blaming you.” Her eyes slide to the window of our dorm room.  “It’s just something that happened.”

“No matter what, I always considered you my friend.”  Feeling uncomfortable, I continue fidgeting with the soft fabric of my sweater.

Ignoring my words, she barrels on, “When you decided to transfer to Western, I thought we would finally get the chance to be friends like we used to be.  But that hasn’t worked out because if you’re not with Cole, you’re playing hockey or tutoring.  There’s never any time for us to just hang out.”

Now it’s my turn to take a deep breath as I consider what she’s just unloaded on me.  And as hard as it is to admit this, I guess… maybe… she’s right.  I allowed our friendship to fall by the side of the road when we were younger and now I’m doing the same thing again.  I’ve become too wrapped up in Cole, hockey, classes, and tutoring.  I’m doing my best to juggle everything but apparently not a good enough job because Brooklyn is important to me, too.  And I haven’t been making enough time for her.  “I’m really sorry, Brook.  Honestly, I didn’t know you felt this way.  I just assumed you were still spending all your free time with Austin.”

Her shoulders slump as she glances down at her freshly polished nails.  “Yeah… I was.”  Then she shrugs.  It’s just a little jerk of her shoulders but I feel the words coming before she actually gives voice to them.  “We broke up two days ago.”

Yep, I am definitely a shitty friend.

I hadn’t even suspected they were having problems, let alone were on the verge of breaking up.  I’ve been so wrapped up in my own life that I haven’t really been paying much attention to what’s been happening with Brooklyn.

“I’m so sorry.”  Even though it’s a little late in coming, I hesitantly ask, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Silently I watch as tears pool her pretty green eyes before she quickly swipes them away with her fingers.  “I caught him kissing someone else.”

My eyes grow wide.  “You did?”  I’m kind of shocked to hear this.  Austin is completely crazy about Brooklyn.  And everyone knows it.  I can’t imagine him cheating on her.

Looking miserable, she nods as I wrap my arms around her.  “I’m so sorry, Brook. I… I’m really surprised.  He’s just so into you.”  I give her a little squeeze before silently vowing to be a better friend.

Brooklyn sniffles before giving a watery little laugh that’s just a shade above bitter.  “Yeah, well, I guess he wasn’t into me enough.  It’s those freaking hockey whores that are always hanging around.  There’s about five or six of the little slut bags that get passed around between the guys.  I mean, come on, don’t they have a single shred of self-respect?”  Crystal looking tears shimmer on her long lashes.

Apparently they don’t.

A lot of the male athletic teams seem to acquire groupies who want nothing more than the notoriety of saying they had slept their way through the entire roster.

“So… that’s it?  You guys are just over now?”

Even though her eyes are still shimmering with wetness, she raises a brow.  “Cass, I can’t be with someone who cheats.”  She inhales a big breath before blowing it out slowly.  “I just can’t.”

“Does he want to work it out?”  Austin is so crazy about her.  I can’t imagine him walking away without a fight.

Giving me a flat look, she picks up her phone and scrolls through a few things before handing it over.  My eyes widen before arrowing right back to hers.

“Forty-two missed calls?”  That’s, umm, kind of a lot.

“And fifty-five unanswered text messages,” she adds before huffing out a tired breath.

“Wow.”  I take a moment to gather my scattered thoughts.  “I don’t know if that’s romantic or cause for a restraining order.”  My words are said with quiet humor but I’m not exactly joking.

Sighing, she glares unhappily out the window.  “I know.  I told him that we didn’t have anything more to say to one another but he won’t leave me alone.”  She shakes her head in exasperation.  “He keeps showing up at my classes, in the cafeteria…”  Her words trail off before she adds, “It’s just getting embarrassing now.”

God, I can’t believe I didn’t know all of this was going on.  That I hadn’t bothered to check in with her over the past couple days.  I really am a shitty friend.

“So what are you going to do now?” I point to the phone.  “Maybe you just need to talk to him.  Hear his side of the story.”  Her phone begins chirping with an incoming call.

Glancing at the screen, she rolls her eyes.  “Guess who.”

The last thing I want is to get involved in this mess.  But for Brooklyn, I’ll do it.  Because that’s what friends do.  They help each other out.  “Do you want me to answer it?  Maybe if I talk to him, tell him that you need some space, he’ll get the message and leave you alone.”

Hitting decline, she throws the phone on her bed.  “No.”  Then she scoffs, “His side of the story?  Give me a break!  What could he possibly say?  That he was so shitfaced he thought that Mandi Richards was me?  Ha!  That he accidently slipped and fell into her face?”  Rather stubbornly she shakes her head again.  “I don’t think so.”

“But you can’t keep living like this with all the calls and texts and following you around campus…”  My words trail off because I don’t even know what to tell her.  This is completely out of my depth.  “Maybe he just needs to hear you tell him again that it’s over.  That there’s no coming back from this.”

Shaking her head, she says, “No, I can’t talk to him right now.  I’m still too angry.”  Even though she glances down, as if to inspect her freshly painted nails again, I see both the sadness and hurt lurking in her eyes.  She may be furious with him but she still cares.

“I know, but this behavior can’t continue.” Pulling her into another embrace, I say, “How about I stay here for the weekend and we can do whatever you want.  We can hole up, watch movies, and order pizza or we can check out a party.”  Then I add, “But definitely no hockey parties.”

She rolls her eyes.  “Yeah, I think I’m pretty much done with hockey players…. for now.”  After a moment, her lips curve into a fragile smile.  “Thanks.”

“I really am sorry about being such a crappy friend.  I promise, I’ll do better.”  Even though I’m nearly twenty, sometimes it still feels like I’m navigating through the pitfalls of how to be a good friend.  Which is actually kind of sad.  This is the stuff people learn in grade school.  Not college.

“Well, you can start by making it up to me this weekend.”  Her lips lift and she looks more like the old can’t-get-me-down-Brooklyn.

I smile in return.  “You’re on.”

Chapter Twenty

We stay in Friday night, renting a whole bunch of chick flicks and ordering an extra-large pepperoni pizza.  Then we spend Saturday afternoon doing the same thing.  I fill Cole in regarding what happened between Brooklyn and Austin and he says he’ll speak with Austin.  Get him to back off for a while and just leave Brooklyn alone.  He doesn’t seem to have a problem with me spending the entire weekend with Brooklyn.  Even though I absolutely love being with Cole, it’s nice that we can do our own thing and still be fine.  After this weekend, I’ll definitely carve out more time for Brooklyn.

By eight o’clock on Saturday night, Brooklyn is climbing the walls with the need to escape the four walls of our dorm room.  Claiming to have wallowed long enough, she’s suddenly ready to hit a few of the fraternity parties that seem to be a constant around here.  And since Cole and Austin are throwing a party of their own, she won’t have to worry about running into her ex.

Clearly wanting to garner a whole lot of male attention, Brooklyn chooses a short black skirt and a low cut silky red top that does fairly amazing things to her boobs.  They almost defy gravity in their perkiness.  Not wanting to encourage any male attention, I throw on a pair of skinny jeans and a pretty pink cashmere sweater that is soft and well loved.  But not exactly sexy.  I leave all that to Brooklyn who has decided to pull out all the stops tonight.  Since this is clearly a guy hunting expedition, Brooklyn leaves her long blonde hair free to float around her shoulders in big soft curls.  It’s her secret weapon.  Not that she needs one… because she’s gorgeous and never lacks for male attention no matter what she’s wearing.

How she manages to look like sex on a stick all the while appearing angelic is beyond me.

I also leave my long black hair down.  But mostly because it’s getting cold out and I want my neck and ears to be warm.  You never know if a party will be inside or out.  Then she sprays us both with perfume and pronounces us ready to go.

We meet up with a bunch of girls from our floor before all walking together to fraternity row.  I’ve seen most of them around but don’t know any of them the way Brooklyn seems to.  Which just slams home the fact that I’ve been spending a lot of time with Cole and not enough with Brooklyn or trying to meet other girls.

It’s easy enough to find the frat house because it’s already bursting at the seams with people.  Scanning the street, I notice there are quite a number of parties happening up and down the block.

Brooklyn scopes out the talent (her words not mine) as we make our way through the first floor to the backyard where the beer is flowing freely.  The guy in charge of the keg takes one look at Brooklyn before giving her a cup on the house.  With a flirty little smile gracing her lips, she tells him that mine should be free as well.  Apparently he agrees and we both walk away laughing with full cups of beer.

Staring down at the bubbles dancing along the rim of my red plastic cup, I debate whether or not to actually drink it.  Clearly Brooklyn is going all out tonight and I’m not a big drinker anyway.  I haven’t been trashed since last year.  And that whole experience left me with a bitter taste lingering in my mouth. So I’ve pretty much steered clear of alcohol ever since.  Getting kicked out of yet another school isn’t high on my priority list.

Brooklyn holds up her cup before tapping it against mine as her eyes continue scanning the thick crowd of bodies.  “Drink up, Cassidy, one beer won’t kill you.”

I smile at her words.  “I know.”

Grabbing my arm she suddenly gives me a pleading look.  “Please… come on… we hardly ever go out anymore.  Just this one night, let’s have fun together, okay?” 

Raising a brow, I mutter, “Are you seriously trying to peer pressure me into drinking?”

“Ha!  That’s not peer pressure,
this
is peer pressure,” she gets in my face, “I won’t be your friend unless you drink with me tonight.  Don’t you want to be cool like the rest of us?  Don’t be a loser, Cassidy, come on, drink up.”

We both start laughing as she takes a few steps back, her eyes sparkling with humor.  It’s nice to see her smile and forget about all the Austin drama for a while.  I know she’s right.  One beer isn’t going to kill me.  My mind tumbles back over the previous few weeks.  I haven’t felt any real anxiousness or nervousness.  Everything has been going really well.  So, maybe it’s okay if I allow myself to have a beer or two.  Deciding to go for it, I take a small sip before letting the yeasty flavor slowly trickle down the back of my throat.

You know what it tastes like?

Failure… 

I almost snort at the thought.

“See?”  She snaps her fingers, “works every time.” Then she drains the rest of her beer in one thirty gulp.  “Guess I better get a refill.”  Dangling her cup in the air, she turns back towards the guy manning the large silver barrel.  Taking another small sip, I watch keg boy wave Brooklyn to the front of the line, filling her cup first, much to the grumbling protest of the people she just cut in front of.  Smiling, she leans over giving him a small peck on the cheek.  And whatever she just whispered in his ear has him grinning as she saunters away.

Shaking my head, I narrow my eyes as Brooklyn makes her way back to me.  “I hope you’re not promising sexual favors in return for quick service at the keg.”  Which I don’t really think she would do…  Well, I hope she wouldn’t.

Not bothering to look offended, she chuckles.  “I promised no such thing.”  Then she links our arms together before towing me through the thick jostling crowd.  “Let’s go find some hot guys to flirt with.”

“I don’t need a hot guy.”  I don’t mention that I already have one. 

Brooklyn just laughs as she continues to tug me along.  “I meant for me, silly.”

Well okay then…

Thirty minutes later, I have to admit that Brooklyn and I, as well as a few of the other girls from the dorm floor, are having an absolute blast.  We’ve been dancing and laughing.  Singing along obnoxiously to the music.  Brooklyn isn’t totally drunk but she’s definitely feeling no pain.  Although I’m sure tomorrow morning will be a different story.  I’ve had two cups of beer and although I’m nowhere near drunk, I’m pleasantly buzzed.  It’s just enough to make me feel loose and happy. 

Brooklyn is grinding with some cute fraternity guy and I’m dancing with another.  He seems fairly harmless so I’m not overly concerned.  I haven’t really let him put his hands on me so I don’t feel like I’m blurring any lines.  It’s all just fun and easy.

The guy I’m dancing with leans towards me so he can be heard over the loud music.  He’s tall and muscular.  Clean shaven and really good looking with short blond hair but it doesn’t do anything for me.  I only have one guy on my mind.  “Do you want another drink?”

I shake my head because I’ve already had two.  One of us needs to be sober enough to get home tonight and it isn’t going to be Brooklyn.  Because if it is, well… we are definitely in trouble.  “No, I’ve had enough, thanks.”

He smiles, moving a little bit closer to me.  Then he leans in further until his face is about twelve inches from mine.  His eyes rove over me almost as if he’s trying to place my face.  And I have to admit there’s something familiar about him as well.  But Western isn’t a huge school, so you tend to run into the same people over and over.

His eyes continue searching mine with a new intensity that starts to make me feel just a bit uncomfortable.  “You’re really pretty.”

I smile before taking a hasty step in retreat trying to create a little more distance between us.  “Thank you.”

“You said your name was Cassidy, right?”  He looks thoughtful as he asks the question.

I nod unable to remember his name. Or if he even told it to me.

“Can I get your number?  Maybe we could hang out some time?”

Not wanting to lead him on, I shake my head.  “Sorry, I have a boyfriend.”  But I’m not sorry at all.  Even thinking about Cole has me fighting back a small smile.  And I’m happy to be here with Brooklyn, but it’s Cole I’d rather be dancing with.

Looking around, he raises a brow before commenting, “If you were my girlfriend, I wouldn’t let you come to a fraternity party all by yourself.”

His words have irritation sparking to life within me.  “He trusts me.”  Then I add so that we’re perfectly clear, “And I really like him.  I wouldn’t do anything to mess that up.” 

He finally nods as if accepting that I’m not interested which is actually kind of a refreshing change because some of these guys can be so pushy.  Especially when they’ve been drinking.  But this one just smiles in response.  “Well, then he’s a lucky guy.”

Feeling relieved, I say with a smile, “Thank you.”

He stares at me for a long moment before shaking his head.  “Give me your phone.”

My brows slide together.  “Why?”

Without answering my question, his fingers curl into a ‘give it to me’ gesture.  “Just hand it over for a minute.”

I slide my phone from the back pocket of my jeans before holding it out to him.  Whatever he’s going to do, I can always delete.  Quickly he plucks it from my fingers.  I silently watch as he scrolls through my contacts list before tapping in his information.  The phone he’s carrying buzzes in his pocket.

“When you break up with that guy, give me a call and we’ll go out.”

Before I can say or do anything in response, he leans over, brushing his lips gently across my cheek before walking away.  Almost absently my fingers touch the place he just kissed.  I can’t believe he just did that.  Slipping my phone back into my pocket, I glance around for Brooklyn. I see a few of the other girls from our floor but not her.

For the next ten minutes I scour the entire backyard before moving inside the house.  My eyes are scanning the crowded kitchen when I smack into a hard chest.  Glancing up, my eyes flare wide as I stumble over my words.  “Austin, w-what are you doing here?”  He’s the last person I expected to see tonight.  Actually he’s the last person I wanted Brooklyn to see.  I don’t need him tanking her mood.  And his presence will undoubtedly do that.

Without saying a word, he pulls out his phone, taps the screen a couple of times before turning it towards me.  My eyes widen even more as I stare at a picture of Brooklyn and the guy she had just been dancing with.  In the photo, he has his arms wrapped around her, one hand sliding down her backside while she laughs.

If Austin and Brooklyn were still together, it would have been a pretty damning picture.

My eyes flick back to his before I say somewhat gently, “Austin, Brooklyn can do whatever she wants.  You guys aren’t together anymore.”  It’s not like I’m trying to twist the knife but… he has to realize that this mess is of his own making.  And stalking her around campus isn’t going to change that fact. It’s only going to make matters worse.  “You cheated on her.”

“For fuck’s sake, I did not cheat on her!”  He growls out the words before plowing one hand through his thick dark hair in frustration.

“Cassidy.”

My eyes dart to Cole who I now realize is standing behind Austin.  “You guys came over here because someone texted a picture of Brooklyn?”

Eyes focused on me, Cole says quietly, “It wasn’t just of Brooklyn.”

Austin scrolls to the next picture and it’s of me and… I don’t even know his name.  It’s a photo of us dancing together.  Although I’m totally clear in the shot, the guy isn’t.  I had no idea someone had taken a picture of us.  Feeling suddenly uneasy, I quickly glance from Austin’s phone to Cole’s face.  He doesn’t necessarily look upset but he doesn’t look happy either.

“We were just dancing, nothing more.”  Cole and I are in a really good place right now and I don’t want something as innocent as me dancing with some random guy to cause a rift between us.

He searches my eyes for a long silent moment before jerking his head in a quick nod.  “Okay.”  The breath rushes out of me in relief when he doesn’t say anything more about it.

Austin’s eyes are already scanning the room. “Where’s Brooklyn?”  His words are short and clipped.  I don’t want Austin causing a scene and if she’s still with that guy… a scene will be the least of our problems because Austin has no issues with throwing a punch.  And the last thing we need is a full out brawl breaking out.

My gaze darts from Cole to Austin again as I hedge, “I’m not, uh, exactly sure.  I was just about to look for her.”

Looking even more agitated, he runs another hand through his hair.  “Call her.  See if she answers her phone because I’ve been trying to call her all night and she won’t pick up.”

Well, duh, she won’t pick up.  You cheated on her…

But I wisely keep that comment to myself.

Nodding, I pull out my phone.  At least then I can warn her that Austin is here looking for her.  After a few rings, it goes to voicemail which isn’t totally unexpected. Who could possibly hear a ringing phone with all this noise? I have no other choice but to leave a quick message.

“I was just heading inside to look for her.  I’ve already searched the backyard and she’s not there.”

Austin looks beyond pissed.  I pray that when we finally find Brooklyn, she’s alone so we can just grab her and go before all hell breaks loose.

Wrapping his arm around my shoulders, Cole pulls me close as we push our way through the thick throng of people.  “Why is Austin here?”  I whisper, “Doesn’t he realize that they aren’t together anymore?”

Cole nods his head towards Austin, who is clearing a path for us, before leaning towards me.  The way his warm breath feathers across my ear has a little shiver of awareness dancing down my spine.  “He swears that he didn’t cheat on her.  He claims it wasn’t what it looked like and that Brooklyn won’t even give him a chance to explain what happened.”

In answer, I give him a skeptical look.

Cole gives me one right back. “That photo of you doesn’t exactly look innocent.”

My brows slide quickly together. “It looked perfectly innocent.”

Cole blows out a long slow breath before finally saying, “Look, I don’t want to talk about it right now.  Let’s just find Brooklyn and go because I can already tell you that Austin won’t be leaving without her.”

Just as the three of us round a corner into the living room, Austin bellows her name before charging towards the couch she’s sitting on.  Well, technically Brooklyn is sitting on a guy’s lap.  It’s the same one she had been dancing with earlier.  One of his hands is stroking her thigh under her short black skirt and she’s laughing as he whispers something in her ear.

Skidding to a quick halt, I watch as the scene unfolds in front of us.  Before Brooklyn realizes it, Austin is there, yanking her off the guy until she’s all but tumbling unsteadily into his arms.  The guy she’s with quickly jerks to his feet.  When they had been dancing earlier, I hadn’t realized just how big he was.  Jeez, he’s huge.  But then again, so is Austin.  The pair of them square off, getting in each other’s faces. For just a moment, Brooklyn looks shell shocked before she starts yelling.

“What the hell are you doing?  You have no right to come here and pull me away!  I can be with whoever I want.  We’re not together anymore!”

Ignoring the angry frat guy, Austin tries cajoling her with a soft voice and sad puppy dog eyes.  “Brooklyn, babe, you’re just angry with me.  You don’t really want to be with this douche.  Please come home so we can work this out.”

Apparently taking offense to being called a douche, the other guy shoves Austin hard in the chest knocking him back a step.  “Dude, she doesn’t want you.  You and your friend need to leave before it gets ugly.”  The guy looks as if he wouldn’t mind things getting ugly.  My eyes slide to the other guys in the room who have suddenly taken an interest in the confrontation.  My guess is that his friends wouldn’t mind it getting ugly either.

We seem to be drawing all sorts of unwanted attention at this point because people are starting to crane their heads towards the commotion Austin and the frat guy are making.  Nervously I place a hand on Cole’s forearm.  His gaze slices to mine.  Cole doesn’t strike me as a brawler but I know he’ll back Austin up if he needs to. 

Not wanting a fight to erupt, I hastily step forward, sliding my arm carefully around an enraged Brooklyn.  “Let’s go home, Brook, it’s late.”  If we don’t get Austin out of here, a fight will definitely erupt.  And Austin isn’t going anywhere unless Brooklyn leaves with us.